Read Etiquette Espionage Finishing School Book 1 Audible Audio Edition Gail Carriger Moira Quirk Hachette Audio Books

Product details Audible Audiobook Listening Length 8 hours and 55 minutes Program Type Audiobook Version Unabridged Publisher Hachette Audio Audible.com Release Date February 5, 2013 Language English, English ASIN B00B2TYRXE

Etiquette Espionage Finishing School Book 1 Audible Audio Edition Gail Carriger Moira Quirk Hachette Audio Books Reviews

• This is an adventure with a dash of mystery, a touch of Steampunk
  and a whole lot of "MacGyver"-ing <gadgetry> going on.
  I would say that the target reader age is 10-14
  Awkward young woman finds her niche at a school where her
  intellect and her curiosity are fed in abundance, just not
  in the conventional way. There is little to no romance, but it's not missed.
  Why would you need it when you're having so much fun ?
  Great fun & well worth my time
  If you're not already familiar with them
  I highly recommend starting out with
  The Flavia de Luce book Series by Alan Bradley
  The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
  The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag
  A Red Herring Without Mustard
  I Am Half-Sick of Shadows
  Bradley's Flavia is younger, more Artemis Fowl-like than Sophronia
  but just as knee deep in mystery & gadgetry
• I've enjoyed the "Parasol Protectorate" novels a lot, but this one was even more fun.
  
  It's set in the same world, I think somewhat before the PP series, and focuses more on intrigue and steampunk, and less on the vamps and weres.
  
  Plus- as an American who went to local public schools, I have always ADORED boarding-school fiction! And a boarding school on an airship??? with the companion school for boys devoted to developing Evil Geniuses??? What's not to love?
  
  OK, the kids don't Save The World. What kids really can expect to? but they do rise to their challenges, outwit the adults, and have a grand time doing it.
  
  A good ending, but with enough threads left that #2 can pick up nicely.
  
  I think a lot of Harry Potter fans could love this, if they're OK with the focus being on GIRLS (the horror!).
  
  Highly recommended. And for YA's, too!
• This was a re-read for me, the first time I consumed this book as an audio book from my library. After listening to most of Gail's book I decided that I absolutely loved her and decided to buy everything she has written. Which I have to do over time there really is quite a few. I really want to give this author so much support as I can, but I can only do it a little at a time. So at some point this year I decided that I wanted to read the books in chronological order, since I was getting them from my Library I was getting whichever series that I could at the time. Since I just love Gail so much I wanted to share the love and do a read-along. Starting in August 2018 we are going to pick up the book in the Parasolverse in chronological order until we finish all of the books in this world. This consists of three series (2 of which are already finished) and various stand-alone books. If you are interested in joining along please see my post talking about the read-along here I listed all of the books and the months we will be reading them. I confirmed my reading order with Gail before beginning this journey. 
  
  Please also go and check out Nicole @ thebookwormdrinketh review as well!
  
  I absolutely love this world that has been created, its a blend of  paranormal and steampunk with witty banter and I could go on and on.  In this series we are following Sophronia. Sophronia who is not what one would have called a proper young lady to her mothers dismay. This story starts off with Sophronia climbing a dumbwaiter and taking off the rubber so she can put it on her boots to better be able to climb places herself. Needless to day the dumbwaiter did not last long after this. Sophronia finds herself being whisked away to Mademoiselle Geraldine’s Finishing Academy for Young Ladies of Quality. "Finishing" may not be what Sophronia and her mother think it is. Sophronia befriends three other new recruits Dimity, Sidheag and Agatha, some Sooties. Quite a go-getter our little Sophronia is.
  
  I will say that this book is a little slow compared to her other books; however this book is technically the first book chronologically to set up this universe and this is the only set of books that were written as YA. I really loved the world she takes so many different elements and just throws them together. The amount of diversity is huge and the way its played off is wonderful. Everyone is just who they are and none of it is used as a reason why the character is there (what I am trying to say is that its never used as a plot point). One thing that I love is the use of balance characters.  Sophronia is balanced by her new BFF Dimity as wild as Sophronia is Dimity is reserved.  I love how she does this!
  
  Since the Parasol Protectorate Series was wrote before the Finishing School Series you see references from the characters that carry over into the next series.  I absolutely love Vieve (Genevieve) reading this the second time around and some of the things that is said just sets up her character for down the line.  Each time I found myself smiling and going ahh I see what you did there.
  
  All in all I am trying so hard not to gush and tell you anything that might spoil the story for you if you want to read it.
  
  Beware there are Picklemen and flywaymen afoot.
• Review written for and originally published at steamingenious.blogspot.com
  
  I have been eagerly anticipating this first book in a new series by Gail Carriger, author of the fantastic The Parasol Protectorate series.
  
  The book follows the exploits of 14 year old Sophronia Temminnick, a troublemaking youngest daughter of a middle class Victorian family. Not knowing what to do with a daughter interested in technology and books, her mother is only too happy to send her off to an exclusive finishing school. Except this finishing school teaches more than just deportment. It also teaches the arts of espionage and assassination.
  
  This book has all the fun of the first Harry Potter novel; it shows an unsuspecting protagonist encountering a weird and wonderful boarding school, and, in fact, almost an entire new society of which she was previously unaware. So this book takes some pretty familiar "starting a new school" tropes and puts a nice spin on them. Sophonia is an extremely likeable character and her new school provides lots of opportunities for her to show off her daring.
  
  This series takes place in the same world as the Parasol Protectorate series, but it's set several decades earlier, in the 1860s, I believe. So fans of that series will enjoy seeing some familiar characters pop up here and there. As for the steampunk elements, while I tend to think of the Parasol Protectorate as a predominantly supernatural series set in a steampunk world, this series seems to be a steampunk series set in a supernatural world. Meaning that this series seems to involve a lot more technology in more important roles than the previous series. There are also vampires and werewolves, but the supernatural elements don't drive the main plot and are pretty much incidental.
  
  I don't want to spoil all the surprises of the book, but I will say that the steampunk elements include airborne highwaymen in small balloons, a giant airship, a steam-powered dog, mechanical servants, airship pirates, a school for evil geniuses, aetheric communication devices, and a group who adorn their clothing with gears and their top hats with decorative goggles.
  
  Ultimately, I loved this book. I found it totally charming, with its combination of polite manners, adventure, and emphasis on practical skills such as how to fake a faint without wrinkling your skirts. I would absolutely enroll in this type of finishing school.
  
  My one and only complaint is that I wish it were longer. It's a young adult series, so it's fairly short. Otherwise there's no noticeable difference in language or style from Carriger's other books. There's no sex or any real romance in this one, which is another difference. (And can we take a moment to celebrate a YA book with a female protagonist that DOESN'T place any emphasis on romance?) I'm extremely excited about the potential for this to be a phenomenal series. I know the second book is already written and I think is supposed to come out later this year? I can't wait.